Scottish singer Caitlin McNeill posted a photo of the enigmatic dress to the image-sharing site with this caption: “guys please help me – is this dress white and gold, or blue and black?

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/27/is-this-dress-white-and-gold-or-blue-and-black-tumblr-photo-sparks-unlikely-online-debate/feed00_op9elqinrgranatsteinNHL Trade Deadline: Leopold’s daughter wins the dayhttp://o.canada.com/sports/hockey/nhl-trade-deadline-live-coverage
http://o.canada.com/sports/hockey/nhl-trade-deadline-live-coverage#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 21:36:26 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=594665]]>The NHL’s trade deadline day featured more shuffling than major moves – plus an inappropriate tweet that TSN ran, and llamas. The story of the day, though, was easily Jordyn Leopold’s letter to the Minnesota Wild to trade for her dad.

And they did!

[]

Here’s a recap of the “action”:

And a look at the numbers:

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/hockey/nhl-trade-deadline-live-coverage/feed0Jordan Leopold, Patric HornqvistrgranatsteinJordyn LeopoldNHL TRADE DEADLINE PLAYERS TRADEDBeyond Velodrome: Riding the new Pan Am Games trackhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/23/riding-a-two-storey-wall-on-a-bike-with-no-brakes-a-first-hand-look-at-the-2015-pan-am-games-velodrome/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/23/riding-a-two-storey-wall-on-a-bike-with-no-brakes-a-first-hand-look-at-the-2015-pan-am-games-velodrome/#commentsMon, 23 Feb 2015 20:26:49 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=593541]]>At the top of the wooden track, at the highest point on the turn, you and your bicycle will be approximately two storeys above the ground. Your bicycle has no brakes, your feet are strapped into the pedals, and those pedals only stop moving when you do, good or bad.]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/23/riding-a-two-storey-wall-on-a-bike-with-no-brakes-a-first-hand-look-at-the-2015-pan-am-games-velodrome/feed0fitzrgranatsteinBaseball could be bond that helps draw old enemies, Cuba and the U.S., back togetherhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/18/matthew-fisher-baseball-could-be-bond-that-helps-draw-old-enemies-cuba-and-the-u-s-back-together/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/18/matthew-fisher-baseball-could-be-bond-that-helps-draw-old-enemies-cuba-and-the-u-s-back-together/#commentsSat, 21 Feb 2015 04:10:51 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=593199]]>Matthew Fisher travels to Cuba to see how baseball is doing and test the idea of Cuba’s ballplayers coming to Major League Baseball, and the major leagues visiting Cuba.]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/18/matthew-fisher-baseball-could-be-bond-that-helps-draw-old-enemies-cuba-and-the-u-s-back-together/feed0cuba-11rgranatsteinTyranny of the chicken fingerhttp://news.nationalpost.com/the-kids-menu/
http://news.nationalpost.com/the-kids-menu/#commentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 16:18:42 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=593008]]>For a generation, many North American parents have indulged children’s picky eating tendencies by sticking them in an endlessly repeating loop of chicken fingers, burgers, pizza, plain pasta, mac and cheese, and grilled cheese sandwiches. – See more at: http://news.nationalpost.com/the-kids-menu/#sthash.1QaKkFeh.dpuf]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/the-kids-menu/feed0Kids MenuesrgranatsteinRCMP charge SNC-Lavalin with corruption, fraudhttp://montrealgazette.com/business/local-business/rmcp-charges-snc-lavalin-with-corruption?__lsa=45a2-89e9
http://montrealgazette.com/business/local-business/rmcp-charges-snc-lavalin-with-corruption?__lsa=45a2-89e9#commentsThu, 19 Feb 2015 19:02:06 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=592761]]>The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have laid charges against Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin for corruption and fraud in connection with an investigation into dealings with Libya.]]>http://montrealgazette.com/business/local-business/rmcp-charges-snc-lavalin-with-corruption?__lsa=45a2-89e9/feed0sncrgranatstein‘Respectful’ strip searches of teens defended by Quebec’s education ministerhttp://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/education-ministers-defends-respectful-strip-searches-of-students
http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/education-ministers-defends-respectful-strip-searches-of-students#commentsWed, 18 Feb 2015 14:22:57 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=592248]]>Quebec Education Minister Yves Bolduc said it’s OK to strip search students suspected of concealing drugs as long as it’s done respectfully and by the book.]]>http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/education-ministers-defends-respectful-strip-searches-of-students/feed0Yves BolducrgranatsteinToronto election: What to watch for Monday night (video)http://o.canada.com/news/national/toronto-election-what-to-watch-for-monday-night-video
http://o.canada.com/news/national/toronto-election-what-to-watch-for-monday-night-video#commentsFri, 24 Oct 2014 21:04:42 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=534579]]>After a marathon election campaign, some remarkable twists and turns, candidates coming and going, the Toronto election campaign is finally, thankfully almost over.

Sure, there are some great ward battles to watch. Can Mary Fragedakis and Paula Fletcher hold their seats? Who will win in the many wards without an incumbent, like the wards that used to belong to Karen Stintz or Gloria Lindsay Luby or Mike Del Grande?

But, of course, this election has been about a one four-letter word: Ford.

Rob Ford’s cancer diagnosis led to Doug Ford jumping in at the last moment to replace his brother on the ballot.

Here’s what to watch for – beyond the straight out result – on Monday night.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/national/toronto-election-what-to-watch-for-monday-night-video/feed0Doug Ford; John ToryrgranatsteinCan Rob Ford win a council seat from his hospital bed?http://o.canada.com/news/can-rob-ford-win-a-council-seat-from-a-hospital-bed
http://o.canada.com/news/can-rob-ford-win-a-council-seat-from-a-hospital-bed#commentsFri, 12 Sep 2014 17:36:49 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=513066]]>Rob Ford is no longer running for mayor. He’s running for his old Ward 2 council seat – kept warm this term by his brother, Doug.

So, with his health ailing, can Rob Ford win his seat back from his hospital bed?

Well, it’s been done before.

In 2003, stuck in a hospital bed with a rare heart virus, long-time councillor and former TTC Chair Howard Moscoe won re-election. His advantage was no one knew until months later his health was failing during the election.

Ford, even facing scandal, police investigation and more, is still beloved in Etobicoke and polling well in the city’s west end. In 2006 he took 66% of the Etobicoke North vote.

So expect Rob Ford’s nameplate to be back in the city hall council chamber for the first meeting of the new Toronto city council. We hope, if he wins, he’s healthy enough to be in his chair and ready to go, too.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/can-rob-ford-win-a-council-seat-from-a-hospital-bed/feed0PJT-FordLaunch-12.jpgrgranatsteinFormer councillor Howard Moscoe. Photo by Brett Gundlock/National PostSex Tape and Canada’s sexy new tourist attraction, Glacier Skywalk, top our videos of the weekhttp://o.canada.com/news/sex-tape-and-canadas-sexy-new-tourist-attraction-glacier-skywalk-top-our-videos-of-the-week
http://o.canada.com/news/sex-tape-and-canadas-sexy-new-tourist-attraction-glacier-skywalk-top-our-videos-of-the-week#commentsMon, 05 May 2014 16:36:46 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=440718]]>The $21-million, award-winning Glacier Skywalk is an accessible walkway on the edge of a cliff in Jasper National Park that leads to the glass-bottomed observation platform extending 30 metres over the Sunwapta Valley on the Icefields Parkway. You do need to get there yourself, but if you can’t, Gavin Young of the Calgary Herald gives you an incredible video tour that’s not to be missed. You can read the story here.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/sex-tape-and-canadas-sexy-new-tourist-attraction-glacier-skywalk-top-our-videos-of-the-week/feed0Visitors take in the opening day of the Glacier Skywalk near Alerta's Columbia Icefields in Jasper National Park Thursday May 1, 2014.rgranatsteinGolden Boys!http://www.canada.com/olympics/news/canada-vs-sweden-live-mens-hockey-gold-medal-game
http://www.canada.com/olympics/news/canada-vs-sweden-live-mens-hockey-gold-medal-game#commentsSun, 23 Feb 2014 11:47:04 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=401381]]>It’s time for Canada-Sweden. Join us.]]>http://www.canada.com/olympics/news/canada-vs-sweden-live-mens-hockey-gold-medal-game/feed0Ice HockeyrgranatsteinBrad Jacobs secures Olympic berth after beating John Morrishttp://games.postmedia.com/news/brad-jacobs-beats-john-morris-to-represent-canada-in-olympic-curling
http://games.postmedia.com/news/brad-jacobs-beats-john-morris-to-represent-canada-in-olympic-curling#commentsMon, 09 Dec 2013 15:48:03 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=364806]]>Brad Jacobs was the best player in the best league in the world at the Roar Of The Rings this week. That means his rink is headed to the Olympics.]]>http://games.postmedia.com/news/brad-jacobs-beats-john-morris-to-represent-canada-in-olympic-curling/feed0Roar Of The RingsrgranatsteinMayor smoked crack, but Doug Ford calls Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair ‘biased’http://o.canada.com/news/national/doug-ford-calls-toronto-police-chief-biased
http://o.canada.com/news/national/doug-ford-calls-toronto-police-chief-biased#commentsTue, 05 Nov 2013 13:27:33 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=340742]]>Let’s just say this: What can Doug Ford possibly say now?

Mayor Rob Ford made his brother look like an absolute fool (we’ll withhold how it makes Rob look), by coming out on Tuesday and admitting that, yes, he has smoked crack cocaine.

Just hours earlier Doug Ford went on the attack against Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, calling him biased and demanding he step aside.

“This is the most political police chief we’ve ever had. He believes he is judge, jury and executioner,” Doug Ford said on CBC Radio on Tuesday morning. “He’s created a bias toward the mayor and in my opinion he’s compromised himself and jeopardized the case against Alessandro Lisi.”

Ford went on the attack after Blair announced last week Toronto Police have recovered the video that shows what appears to be Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine and saying as a Torontonian he’s very disappointed.

Doug Ford also went to Ryerson’s journalism school to talk to a media ethics class and talk about his very honest brother. Well, the truth rolled out just before noon.

So, where does the Doug Ford attack dog turn now? With statements from his brother like: “Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine,” and discussing the “drunken stupor” he has been in, that the media have seen, what can Doug possibly say?

What he shouldn’t be saying is what he said this morning.

“I’d like to see him step aside until this probe is completed,” Doug Ford said this morning about the chief.

Torontonians, meanwhile, remain divided. While some feel that the police chiefs announcement was politically motivated — especially since no charges have been laid against the mayor — others feel the announcement was perfectly appropriate and in the public interest.

Have a feeling that the Toronto Police Force will emerge from 2013 as (unlikely) heroes of the city. Surreal, considering G20 sentiment.

Of course, while Doug Ford calls for the police chief to step aside, Rob Ford has elected not to step aside while allegations and controversy swirl around him over a number of his actions, from public intoxication to being seen on a video tape apparently smoking crack to public urination, to name a few of the issues highlighted last week, before his crack-smoking verification and drunken stupor zingers.

He pointed to Blair’s comments about Ford, and his disappointment. He added former attorney general Bob Runciman told the Toronto Sun the comments were unacceptable.

He also alleged Andy Pringle, a board member, went on vacation with the chief, and said that clearly can’t happen. “I want to know why he went away with a board member,” Ford said.

The Police Services Board oversees Toronto Police, and is in charge of deciding whether to renew the contract of the chief, as well the police budget.

“The police chief, on his own accord, went up there and he made it very clear that yes he’s disappointed and it’s not good for the city of Toronto. If he wants to get into politics he should run for mayor and not be police chief,” Ford said.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford tells media to get off his property as he leaves his home in Toronto on Thursday. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

Doug Ford was also perturbed by Mayor Rob Ford’s invitation to the Police Chief’s Gala was revoked. “Last time I checked, this wasn’t the police chief’s personal gala,” Ford said.

Toronto Police spokesman Mark Pugash predicted last week the Fords would come after the police. “What we’re seeing is the beginning of a concerted attack against both the investigation, the investigators and Chief Blair,” he said.

Doug Ford making the radio rounds this morning, attacking police chief. "I don't know who all of a sudden made him king."

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/national/doug-ford-calls-toronto-police-chief-biased/feed0Rob Ford; Doug FordrgranatsteinToronto Mayor Rob Ford tells media to get off his property as he leaves his home in Toronto on Thursday. Nathan Denette/The Canadian PressRob Ford video found – Toronto’s 2014 election is a brand new ball gamehttp://o.canada.com/news/national/rob-ford-video-found-torontos-2014-election-is-a-brand-new-ball-game
http://o.canada.com/news/national/rob-ford-video-found-torontos-2014-election-is-a-brand-new-ball-game#commentsThu, 31 Oct 2013 17:26:55 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=338453]]>Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been wearing Teflon for three years, sticking to his taxpayers-first mantra while his administration stumbles and bumbles through many other debacles – most surrounding Ford himself.

Now that Police Chief Bill Blair has confirmed the cops have the tape seen by the Toronto Star and Gawker, which seems to show the mayor smoking from a crack pipe and saying unfortunate things about minority students and federal political leaders, we will find out if cocaine sticks to Teflon.

“I think it’s fair to say the mayor does appear in that video but I’m not going to get into the detail of what activities is depicted in that video,” Chief Blair said in a news conference at a police headquarters.

He said it is “consistent with what had been previously described in various media reports.”

Well, the gift to Toronto media keeps on giving. We’re back in overdrive.

Who will be Toronto’s mayor next week, next month, next year and after the 2014 election are now all much more interesting questions than they were 24 hours ago. When will the tape come out? How long until it gets to court? And what happens in the interim?

Ford has an incredibly devoted base. A base that swore this tape didn’t exist. That has to be a base that’s shaken to its core. And it’s also a base that will have at least two right-of-centre candidates to choose from going forward – Karen Stintz and David Soknacki.

Will Rob Ford resign? My gut is no. And on Thursday afternoon Ford confirmed he isn’t going anywhere. No surprise. He’s a fighter, that’s for sure. He’s proven that again and again. The calls to resign from his fellow politicians will fall on deaf ears. He’ll do what he’s always done, as he said, return calls and try to save taxpayers money.

But, with a year until the next election in Toronto, it finally is a whole new ballgame. And the “most honest politician in the country” according to his brother Doug, is in for a wild ride.

Related articles

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/olympics/olympians-ramp-up-toward-sochi-2014-by-lip-synching/feed0Screen Shot 2013-10-25 at 5.07.17 PMrgranatsteinCalgary election 2013 – a test for Naheed Nenshihttp://o.canada.com/news/calgary-election-2013-a-test-for-naheed-nenshi
http://o.canada.com/news/calgary-election-2013-a-test-for-naheed-nenshi#commentsTue, 22 Oct 2013 01:17:03 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=332753]]>Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi went from being beloved by many Calgarians not freaked out by the amount of spending going on at City Hall to Canadian political superhero during the summer’s floods.

Now that the votes are in, we’ll see just how much Calgary loves its mayor.

Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi speaks to volunteers at McMahon Stadium before they headed out to various flood damaged areas to help clean up on Monday, June 24, 2013. Tijana Martin, Calgary Herald

The city’s election did not bring a challenger anywhere close to Nenshi’s grasp of the mayor’s office. Nenshi secured more than 74 per cent of the vote.

As the Calgary Herald reported, Nenshi was worried on election night that he might win the election, but lose the council – meaning it won’t be a Nenshi-aligned group in the council chamber. We’ve seen what that means in Toronto, where Mayor Rob Ford has to fight for every big decision with a council that’s far more left leaning than he is.

But despite a recent $52-million tax hike, Nenshi’s fears were largely unfounded. Council has changed very little in Calgary.

Voters re-elected all suburban councillors and some downtown wards even went more liberal than expected. Nenshi also retained several of his core allies in the council chambers.

Franson went back to play the puck in front of his own bench, and after moving the puck, Fisher pushed the defenceman from behind, face first into the curved glass by the bench, and the stanchion holding the glass together.

According to the Toronto Star, Franson practiced Thursday night with full facial protection and is hoping to play in tonight’s game against the Oilers.

Franson lay face down on the ice as the Leafs’ trainer tended to the injured player.

Fisher earned a five-minute major and a misconduct.

Leafs’ coach Randy Carlyle gave a quick update on Franson after the game: He hit his head on the rounded glass and it was his visor that cut him on the bridge of his nose,” Carlyle said. He didn’t have any other information. Carlyle said he hadn’t reviewed the hit but said his impression is it’s two big guys going for the puck, and Franson got himself into a bad position. He wasn’t ‘sure if Fisher finished his check or threw Franson into the glass.

Randy Carlyle: Franson's visor cut the bridge of his nose. No more info at this time #TMLtalk

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/cody-franson-hurt-in-toronto-maple-leafs-game/feed2FisherHitsFransonrgranatsteinTeam Canada’s hockey jersey for the Sochi Olympics revealedhttp://o.canada.com/sports/is-this-team-canadas-hockey-jersey-for-the-sochi-olympics
http://o.canada.com/sports/is-this-team-canadas-hockey-jersey-for-the-sochi-olympics#commentsFri, 06 Sep 2013 02:50:19 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=306146]]>A picture of Jonathan Toews wearing a red jersey with a maple leaf on the front is making the rounds on Twitter, Reddit as the likely new design of Team Canada’s hockey jersey.

What do you think of it?

A maple leaf, trimmed in gold. Hey, Canada owns the gold medal from 2010. But is it too much?

UPDATED: Hockey Canada has had enough of the Internet speculation and has promised to release the official jerseys Oct. 8.

Hockey Canada has released an official statement on its 2014 Olympic and Paralympic jerseys. READ: http://t.co/vJKxdtLmCu

Meanwhile, Harrison Mooney on Puck Daddy took a close look at the “lace-style” design on the collar, compared it to the U.S. jersey and declared this the likely real deal. Then Getty, the photo agency that put the picture out, pulled it down off its site.

Ok, found the source of new Canada jersey photo. Getty Images from NHL Player Media Tour: http://t.co/zrR6JoToL6

Canada’s Sidney Crosby throws his stick away and starts to fling his gloves off while celebrating his game-winning overtime goal agains the USA during the gold medal men’s hockey game in Vancouver, BC Sunday, February 28, 2010 during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/is-this-team-canadas-hockey-jersey-for-the-sochi-olympics/feed40.000000 0.0000000.0000000.000000pic21rgranatsteinJonathan Toews in the new Team Canada Olympic jersey?Canada's Sidney Crosby throws his stick away and starts to fling his gloves off while celebrating his game-winning overtime goal agains the USA during the gold medal men's hockey game in Vancouver, BC Sunday, February 28, 2010 during the 2010 Winter Olympics.Team Russia's jersey for the 2014 Sochi Olympics.Alexander Ovechkin in Team Russia Olympic jersey for Sochi 2014.Team USA hockey jersey for Sochi Olympics.Toronto Star blames Rob Ford for David Miller’s spendinghttp://o.canada.com/news/toronto-star-blames-rob-ford-for-david-millers-spending
http://o.canada.com/news/toronto-star-blames-rob-ford-for-david-millers-spending#commentsWed, 10 Jul 2013 16:04:47 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=278615]]>The Toronto Star has a reputation for being anti-Rob Ford. Wednesday’s edition supplied more ammo to those who see the paper as a Ford attack organ rather than a credible reporter of the news at City Hall (and why so many Torontonians find it easy to dismiss the alleged Ford crack smoking tape).

In a story headlined “City of Toronto deeper in debt under Mayor Rob Ford” by Toronto Star City Hall reporter Paul Moloney (who doesn’t write the headlines), the paper attacks Ford for increasing the city’s debt load by $800 million in his first two years in office.

True, the city’s debt has gone up.

But look at the city of Toronto’s capital budget documents – or actually read the story and not the headline – and you’ll see this spending has been largely predictable, expected, necessary and committed to by former mayor David Miller’s council. Blaming Ford is a partisan attack that is beneath the Star – or should be.

New headline: Miller bought it, Ford tries to pay for it – city needs it.

Report on debt under Ford is accurate, but not really a fair point of criticism. City does 10-year capital plans. http://t.co/Wl8ed0iRYi

Numerous big ticket items, especially many TTC purchases like the new streetcars, just make Ford fume. The streetcar purchase plan had the Toronto budget spend $737 million between 2009-2013, . In 2013 alone, almost $500 million in debt will be added to the city’s books by the TTC. Between 2013 and 2022, the TTC will spend almost $6.4 billion trying to keep its vehicles on the road.

The TTC’s new low-floor streetcar.

Many of the items in the capital budget that drive up the debt are purchases launched under Miller that Ford has railed against, like the streetcars or revitalizing Nathan Phillips Square. There is huge spending on downtown, like the East Bayfront and West Don Lands – while Ford and his brother love to scream about how downtown gets all the money and the suburbs get nothing.

The Toronto Star does mention all of this, noting:

Over the past two years, the city borrowed $1.5 billion to pay for capital costs — including transit equipment ordered by Ford’s predecessor — and repaid $700 million, thus increasing the debt burden by $800 million.

Ford could have more aggressively paid down debt by not freezing taxes or not cutting the vehicle registration tax. On that point, there is no debate. But this is what Toronto voted for.

In fact, last year Ford’s council led a planned cutback of $1.1 billion in future capital purchases for the TTC alone between 2012 and 2020. For better or worse, I’d argue. Then, for 2013, council decided to try and keep the Gardiner Expressway standing and improve the TTC, an addition to the capital spending that doesn’t show up in the Star’s claim against Ford – yet.

This city should be spending money as its infrastructure continues to face increased stress from population growth, ever-increasing storms and aging assets. We saw what happened when spending stopped as our water system came under incredible stress and has needed huge investments of cash – fuelled by fee increases of 9% per year on water and wastewater to pay for it. Or our transit system stopped working properly and two TTC subway trains collided, killing riders.

But Torontonians pay because we all know clean, reliable water and transit is better than broken water mains, caving-in roads, shut-down subways or sewage in our lakes and streams.

To pin the city’s growing debt level on Ford is disingenuous and continues to carve away at the Star’s reputation. Capital spending is long-term spending, paid off over decades for projects that take years to develop. To expect Rob Ford to stop this spending, or make huge reversals in the city’s debt growth is not realistic. Just like Ford saying he’s saved taxpayers $1 billion is full of baloney.

The city of Toronto’s 2009 net debt projections under former mayor David Miller.

As Councillor Gord Perks told the Star, the city did need to catch up on spending after a drought in investment under Mel Lastman, the mayor before Miller. This is the result. Miller spent on many items Toronto needed and still needs – like subway trains less than 4o years old and buses that haven’t been rebuilt six times just to keep them borderline road worthy.

Finally, with the city’s budget surplus from 2012 (there should always be a surplus because the city legally can not have a deficit), another $186 million will go to capital projects, helping to reduce borrowing.

The city, as the Star reports, is well within its debt target, has retained its AA credit rating and borrowing should fall as the new streetcars, buses and subways – big ticket items that all had to be purchased around the same time – taper off.

Readers want to know what’s actually happening in their city from the biggest media outlets. Political attacks do nothing but hurt credibility. Torontonians would be better served if the Star exited full attack mode every once in a while.

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]]>http://o.canada.com/news/toronto-star-blames-rob-ford-for-david-millers-spending/feed1Toronto Ford Video 20130531rgranatsteinThe TTC's new low-floor streetcar.The city of Toronto's 2009 net debt projections under former mayor David Miller.Toronto floods: Bring on the Calgary comparisonshttp://o.canada.com/news/toronto-floods-bring-on-the-calgary-comparisons
http://o.canada.com/news/toronto-floods-bring-on-the-calgary-comparisons#commentsTue, 09 Jul 2013 03:49:34 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=277809]]>It is inevitable, after the Great Toronto Flood of 2013 – how does Toronto compare to Calgary.

Well, there is no comparison.

Calgary’s problems, and much of southern Alberta’s flood issues appear to have been caused by a combination of rain and snow runoff from the mountains. In Alberta, the ground was saturated, there was no place for the water – between 45 mm in the city and hundreds of millimetres of rain in the mountains – to go. Add to that the snow that melted, as part of the regular early summer, and the moisture started moving.

Houses damaged along the edge of Cougar Creek are shown June 20, 2013 in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. (John Gibson/Getty Images)

The real problems were caused not by the rain, but by the swelling rivers that rushed through Canmore, Calgary and then down to the South Saskatchewan River. The volume and speed of that water tore away flood walls, ripped up transit tracks, rushed over the banks of the river and flushed out homes.

The direct damages are in the billions of dollars, people will be out of their homes for weeks, months, or in some cases, forever.

In Toronto, it appears – and it’s early yet – that it’s just the straight rainfall that is causing the problem. Toronto faced the most rain on one day ever. More than the amount of rain that fell during the massive storm of 1954, Hurricane Hazel, that forced the city to rethink everything from its stormwater management to where houses are allowed to be built. Hurricane Hazel was the 100-year storm, with wind, of course. This flood is the 100-year storm, but luckily is only straight rain, wind isn’t an issue.

The heavy rain sent water over the banks of the Don River, overwhelmed the stormwater systems on Lake Shore Blvd., Lower Simcoe St., and most underpasses in the city.

A police officer surveys cars caught in flooding at King Street and Atlantic Avenue after a flash flood in Toronto, Monday July 8, 2013. Peter J. Thompson/National Post

The real question facing Toronto will surround what the city looks like when the water recedes. What sort of damage has been caused to the city’s infrastructure? Already, more than half-a-million people are without power, but that should be quickly fixed.

Will there be issues with the TTC, Toronto’s transit system, or the GO Transit that serves both Toronto and the surrounding region? So far, so good. The TTC is reporting most subway service is back on track. GO has some issues, but is working its way back.

Will there be issues with the city’s sewage system? There used to be issues when the water exceeded certain levels, wastewater would mix with the sewer water and push out into Lake Ontario untreated.

Still, this doesn’t appear – on first evaluation – to be a billion-dollar flood, or anything close to that. Work will still have to be done to ensure the safety of places like the TTC’s tunnels and stations. It’s a huge, dramatic, dangerous weather event. But it looks like Toronto will weather this storm. Thank goodness.

Water rises in a GO Train stranted on flooded tracks in Toronto on Monday, July 8, 2013.

Finally, there will be inevitable comparisons between how the city’s leaders responded. For Calgary, Mayor Naheed Nenshi was in Toronto and flew back into his decimated city. He became a hero for his response, spoke smoothly, but with force when necessary, with empathy and with humour.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi speaks to volunteers at McMahon Stadium before they headed out to various flood damaged areas to help clean up on Monday, June 24, 2013. Tijana Martin, Calgary Herald

In Toronto, Mayor Rob Ford has not been an active participant in what’s happening, other than a brief interview here and there, advising Toronto residents to stay home. No doubt he’ll be criticized. But, keep this in mind, Ford can’t really do much. Emergency response is practiced, it’s led by the leaders of Toronto’s emergency services and transit teams. The mayor is kept up-to-date with what’s happening, but generally isn’t needed to do anything to keep people safe. All the resources have been mobilized.

Of course, saying he’s staying in his SUV with the air conditioning on to keep cool with his kids because the power is out in his neighbourhood isn’t going to help his cause. At all.

Ford could take a more public stance, and will likely have to for Tuesday morning, but the city seems to be in decent shape, so the pressure will not be on the mayor.

It’s probably just as helpful for Rob Ford to stay out of the way and let the city services leaders get Toronto dried out.

Most of all, people died in Alberta’s storm. People were left homeless. So far, no one has died in Toronto’s rain.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/toronto-floods-bring-on-the-calgary-comparisons/feed8gotrainrgranatsteinCalgary FloodingA police officer surveys cars caught in flooding at King Street and Atlantic Avenue after a flash flood in Toronto, Monday July 8, 2013.Water rises in a GO Train stranted on flooded tracks in Toronto on Monday, July 8, 2013.Calgary mayor Naheed NenshiBryan Murray on Daniel Alfredssonhttp://o.canada.com/sports/bryan-murray-on-daniel-alfredsson
http://o.canada.com/sports/bryan-murray-on-daniel-alfredsson#commentsFri, 05 Jul 2013 21:19:09 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=276458]]>Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray said the team did what they could to keep Daniel Alfredsson in Ottawa.

Owner Eugene Melnyk gave Murray the freedom to do whatever necessary to keep Alfredsson.

But after 17 years, Alfredsson told Murray he wanted to try something else. That he felt Detroit had a better chance to win.

“‘I know I’m being a little selfish Bryan, but this is what I want to try to do,'” Alfredsson told Murray.

“This is not a financial thing in Alfie’s mind or my mind,” Murray said.

“Losing Alfie is a big blow,” Murray said.

Murray said he was convinced the deal would get done. “Tell me the number and we’ll get a deal,” Murray told Alfredsson’s agent.

He got nervous Thursday when Alfredsson didn’t call him back. Then they talked later Thursday.

“I tried to convince him to sign, then a trade possibility. He said I basically have to do this for myself.”

“He had no obligation to tell me anything,” Murray said.

“I hope some day he’ll come back and live in Ottawa. I hope our fans understand this is what happens sometimes.”

“I said to him, you deserve a championship. He’s good in the room, he’s still a good player. He’s a big figure in the community.”

In a conference call, Alfie gave his reason.

“I’m really excited to get this opportunity at this stage of my career to go for a Stanley Cup and fulfil a long-time dream,” the 40-year-old Alfredsson said.

He didn’t think Ottawa could win the Stanley Cup. Murray may think he’s wrong, but that’s a big thing for the team’s captain to say.

Murray said the Bobby Ryan deal was in the works, and he told the captain about it. When Alfredsson said he’d be leaving, the Sens took a shot at David Clarkson but couldn’t beat out the Leafs on the ex-Devil.

Alfie, the greatest player in Senators history, and the face of the franchise, grew up in Ottawa, took the team to the Stanley Cup Finals, won gold for Sweden at the Olympics and did everything but sweep the floors in Kanata for the Sens.

But opposing fans liked to mock him for his resemblance to Krusty the Clown at some points.

Daniel Alfredsson in 2004. The peak of his Krusty the Clown look.

Krusty the Clown on the SIMPSONS on FOX.

No matter how he looked, though, Daniel Alfredsson has always been a class act (no matter what Leafs fans might say).

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]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/daniel-alfredsson-17-years-of-bad-hair-days/feed2alfie2004rgranatsteinDaniel Alfredsson in 2004. The peak of his Krusty the Clown look.Krusty the Clown on the SIMPSONS on FOX. Calgary launches post-flood tourism videohttp://o.canada.com/news/calgary-launches-post-flood-tourism-video
http://o.canada.com/news/calgary-launches-post-flood-tourism-video#commentsThu, 04 Jul 2013 20:53:03 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=275731]]>Calgary has already moved to the next phase of its recovery, inviting the world back to town.

The new video launched by the tourism departments both locally and provincially invites travellers back to Calgary’s restaurants, festivals, hotels, even its water features – OK, a pool. It will run for three weeks.

The ad features the city’s biggest star, Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

It’s worth a look.

“There are some real economic reasons to do it,” said Nenshi in a media scrum. “A lot of our neighbours are in a lot of pain. A lot of folks have lost wages over the time we’ve been closed and many of those folks depend on the tourism industry to do well. And of course they make their bread and butter during Stampede.

“Calgarians have shown remarkable tenacity and spirit in all the work that we’ve done to date. But now it’s a chance for us to really show the world we’re back. The Stampede parade (Friday) morning is a great, great opportunity for us to flip that switch.

The Calgary Chamber of Commerce just launched a Back to Business site to help small businesses get back on their feet. Costs of the flood are estimated to be in the billions, the impact on Canada’s GDP are believed to be also in the billions, and the Calgary Stampede has had to cancel a number of events, including its big concert series because of the damage.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/calgary-launches-post-flood-tourism-video/feed0hadfieldrgranatsteinDoug Holyday will have to run a different campaign for MPPhttp://o.canada.com/news/doug-holyday-will-have-to-run-a-different-campaign-for-mpp
http://o.canada.com/news/doug-holyday-will-have-to-run-a-different-campaign-for-mpp#commentsThu, 04 Jul 2013 18:09:20 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=275629]]>Toronto Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday has decided to make a run for Queen’s Park for the Conservatives, but it will be a lot different than any election he’s run in recent years.

The former mayor of Etobicoke has been a shoo-in to win in Ward 3. So much so, he actually spent no money on his campaign in 2010.

Holyday’s campaign expenses show he totalled $100, and that was a refund to him of his nomination fee. His campaign spending limit was $35,432.

He had no signs, no advertising, no Rob Ford-style magnets.

No wonder he’s always referred to as frugal. Holyday won 71% of the vote in Etobicoke Centre in the 2010 municipal election.

In 2006, he broke the bank, spending $3,716, well under the $29,586 limit that year. He spent the money on brochures for his campaign that year.

Peter Milczyn. Photo by Tyler Anderson/National Post

He won’t be able to cake walk this time. Etobicoke-Lakeshore councillor and Liberal candidate Peter Milczyn will be a huge test. Milczyn is a strong councillor, an architect, and the Toronto Star is reporting the Liberals have a lot of support in the riding – before Holyday announced his candidacy (making the poll all but irrelevant).

The byelection for Etobicoke-Lakeshore to replace outgoing Liberal Laurel Broten will be held Aug. 1.

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/doug-holyday-will-have-to-run-a-different-campaign-for-mpp/feed0PJT-RobFord-7.jpgrgranatsteinTA042312-CityHall03.jpgCanada.com – Happy Birthday to us!http://o.canada.com/business/canada-com-happy-birthday
http://o.canada.com/business/canada-com-happy-birthday#commentsSat, 29 Jun 2013 14:01:59 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=273287]]>In the late afternoon of Thursday June 28, 2012, we held a meeting in the windowless space 11 of us had called “home” for about three months. On the agenda: Are we go or no-go for launch of the new, re-imagined, overhauled Canada.com?

Around the room we went, with the WordPress team, the user experience team, the design team, the site architects, the quality assurance staff, the project manager, a couple of editors. Postmedia columnist Andrew Coyne stopped by at just that moment, his first visit to the Canada.com team – and a pick-me-up for a tired staff, as we’d been looking at his face on our test pages for weeks – to say hello and took in the drama.

Our team was split. A number of people said yes. Just as many said it was too risky to go. We weren’t ready. There were too many unanswered questions. Being a Thursday, if we didn’t push the button to go we’d miss our July 1 launch deadline. It’s not wise to start something new on a Friday, the tech team likes to tell you, in case it all goes bananas. There would be no staff to fix things, especially heading into a long weekend.

We decided to go ahead and launch. Then we had to stop as more problems surfaced. Finally, after 7 pm, we decided to go for it.

It’s been non-stop. In fact, news-wise, we got lucky. So thank you Rob Ford, Mike Duffy, Dalton McGuinty, all the mayors in Quebec*, Robocallers, Gary Bettman, Donald Fehr, and anyone else who has bungled their way into our hearts through our keyboards (or by tweeting topless selfies). And to Chris Hadfield (who answered your questions from space), Naheed Nenshi, Kate Middleton, Alanis Morissette, Tim Hortons, social media buffoons, and gossip kings for also drawing huge audiences. What a year of news – and we fininshed our first year with what may be our biggest story, the floods in southern Alberta.

I have appreciated all the feedback over our first year. We love the nice words and compliments, and have taken the criticism and advice seriously, acting on many of your suggestions.

We made many other mistakes, and steadily improved our product – all part of the natural evolution of a site

We’ve almost completely overhauled our staff. We lost some very good writers and editors, but have gained some immensely talented people who are taking the site to new heights under the tremendous leadership of our homepage editor William Wolfe-Wylie. Lauren Strapagiel, Marc Weisblott, Patrick O’Rourke and Ishmael Daro – Canada’s first trends editor, we believe – have all joined our staff since our relaunch, taking a seat alongside John Dujay.

We’ve also seen the team that used to run Dose.ca join Canada.com with Jon Dekel and Miranda Furtado injecting their enthusiasm and exclusive entertainment stories into the mix. And Laura Brehaut, Rebecca Perrin and Jane Flanagan give us a great variety of stories in fashion, life, health and more.

The result? May was our best month since launch, June has seen us set a new daily traffic record while the site continues to grow steadily.

We can’t thank you enough for sticking with us, discussing the stories we produce, and sharing what we’re doing with your friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, reddit and beyond. Our goal is to tell the great stories – great Canadian stories – you want to read, and share.

We want you to have fun reading stories on our site, watching videos, or joining in live chats.

So, expect more from us in Year 2. More fun, more video, more exclusives and more fun stories you can’t wait to tell your friends about.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our first year, we’ve had a blast.

Rob

]]>http://o.canada.com/business/canada-com-happy-birthday/feed0cancomlaunch_featurergranatsteinanniversaryoriginalJust in time for Canada Day – Paulina Gretzky!http://o.canada.com/entertainment/just-in-time-for-canada-day-paulina-gretzky
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/just-in-time-for-canada-day-paulina-gretzky#commentsFri, 28 Jun 2013 21:00:47 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=273158]]>This is your official “Is Paulina Gretzky still a thing?” update heading into the Canada Day weekend.

The daughter of Canada’s favourite son made it back into the paparazzi’s lens this week as she was photographed frolicking with her boyfriend, PGA star Dustin Johnson on the beaches of Barbados. Gretzky was wearing a skimpy Canada-red bikini.

]]>http://o.canada.com/entertainment/just-in-time-for-canada-day-paulina-gretzky/feed2pg2rgranatsteinNHL Draft 2013: MacKinnon goes number one, Schneider tradedhttp://o.canada.com/sports/nhl-draft-2013-everything-you-need-to-know
http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl-draft-2013-everything-you-need-to-know#commentsMon, 24 Jun 2013 21:10:02 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=270306]]>Halifax native Nathan MacKinnon was drafted first overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013 NHL entry draft. But the top story from New Jersey has taken place away from the podium.

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]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl-draft-2013-everything-you-need-to-know/feed0(L-R) Number three over all Jonathan Drouin of Tampa Bay Lightning, number one over all Nathan Mackinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and number two over all Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers pose during the 2013 NHL Draft at the Prudential Center on June 30, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey.rgranatsteinAlberta floods force Kananaskis Country Golf Course to close for yearhttp://o.canada.com/news/alberta-floods-force-kananaskis-country-golf-course-to-close-for-year
http://o.canada.com/news/alberta-floods-force-kananaskis-country-golf-course-to-close-for-year#commentsMon, 24 Jun 2013 14:45:57 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=269985]]>The impact of the Alberta floods continues to roll in.

The latest is news that the Kananaskis Country Golf Course, in the Kananaskis provincial park, has been forced to close for the year.

Here’s the letter from the course.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce Kananaskis Country Golf Course is closed for the 2013 season.

Record rainfall has caused severe flooding throughout our valley, making both the Mt. Kidd and Mt. Lorette layouts impassable. While we cannot measure damage until the waters of our rivers and creek beds recede, it will be some time before the courses will be playable.

Full refunds will be given to all with a confirmed tee time, including corporate golf groups. For the time being, we ask that calls to the golf course are limited to those urgent in nature, as we will be operating with limited staff during this time.

We are thankful that our staff and their families remain safe, and deeply appreciate your support and patience as our community recovers. We will continue to update our website (www.kananaskisgolf.com) and Facebook/Twitter with news as is warranted.

Our thoughts remain with those in our region during this time.

Sincerely,

Darren Robinson
General Manager

Kananskis is always ranked as one of Canada’s top golf courses. The impact of this on the golf course is one thing, but it’s also the impact on the insurance industry that is also going to be huge.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson (left) chats with Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi at the Canadian Club lunch at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa on Wednesday. Chris Mikula / Ottawa Citizen photo

Of course, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been under the media microscope for a month after a story came out that alleged he can be seen on a video smoking what appears to be crack cocaine. The video has been seen by three reporters but has since disappeared, and Ford continues to march on in his own unique way as Toronto’s mayor – while the world goes on mocking him.

Nenshi, meanwhile, continues to walk on water, it seems. While some in Calgary are tiring of his act, he’s a superstar compared to the mayoral crises in London, Ont., Toronto, Montreal, and Laval, and is looking like a sure thing for re-election.

Nenshi's approval rating: 73%. May be first time he's below 80, but other mayors would kill for his support levels. http://t.co/PUCN4Cc3V9

Lankin, a former Ontario NDP cabinet minister and former president and CEO of the Toronto United Way, replaces Bob Elgie, who died on April 3.

Lankin, the sixth chair of the Press Council, has a steep job ahead of her – and she knows it.

“Because we are in the initial stages of considering the establishment of a national media council to replace the provincial bodies, this is a critical time for press councils,” said Lankin, who lives near North Bay.

“It is extremely important an independent body exists to oversee public complaints and ensure ethics are encouraged and acceptable journalistic practices are followed

The Ontario Press Council has downsized recently after losing Sun Media – the biggest publisher in Ontario – from its membership. Press councils across Canada are under pressure or have stopped operating as well, as publishers look to cut costs and some have chosen to lop off the fees related to the council as a cost-cutting measure.

The Ontario Press Council has effectively cut its budget to remain afloat under the leadership of Elgie and executive director Don McCurdy, but the future is anything but assured as it tries to adjust to shrinking budgets and digital media.

]]>http://o.canada.com/business/frances-lankin-named-chair-of-ontario-press-council/feed0Frances LankinrgranatsteinRob Ford crack scandal: Winners and Losershttp://o.canada.com/news/national/rob-ford-crack-scandal-winners-and-losers
http://o.canada.com/news/national/rob-ford-crack-scandal-winners-and-losers#commentsThu, 30 May 2013 12:00:13 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=256082]]>The Toronto Mayor Rob Ford crack video story has been out for two weeks. It’s been two weeks since Gawker.com, then the Toronto Star, wrote stories claiming reporters had seen video that appeared to show the mayor, a crack pipe and drug dealers all hanging out.

We have not seen the video, and no one can verify the contents, but that hasn’t stopped this from being one of the biggest stories around in the month of May.

Toronto Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby once put forward a motion to ask CNN to literally put Toronto on the station’s weather map, as Montreal was there but Toronto omitted. Well, Rob Ford has certainly put us on the map, now.

So, let’s look at some winners and losers of the Rob Ford crack cocaine allegation story.

Loser: Rob Ford

Can anyone argue? Rob Ford’s name has been dragged through the mud. He fumbled the response to the allegations by hiding from the media for days.

When he came forward and said he did not do crack cocaine, the media immediately pounced on the fact he said it in the present tense, not in the past. He also blamed the Toronto Star, even though Gawker.com from New York actually went first with the story.

Ford has also lost three top members of his office, has had his family hounded by reporters, resorted to sneaking into his office through the back stairway and, oh yeah, there’s still this unsettled issue with whether a tape exists and whether it is or isn’t Ford in that tape.

The city’s deputy mayor is coming out of this smelling like a rose. Holyday has been able to stand by his man, Ford, while also criticizing him, advising him, saying he believes the Star’s reporter saw the video, and urging the mayor to speak to the media about this issue. The old mayor of Etobicoke even earned huge thanks from Ford himself for his guidance. This isn’t the start of a Holyday mayoral campaign, but he’s gold right now.

Winner: Mark Towhey

Getting fired can do wonderful things for you. That seems to be the case for the mayor’s former chief of staff, Mark Towhey. While he hasn’t confirmed which story is true, Towhey left because the mayor failed to take his advice and get help for addiction, or because he told him not to have the Don Bosco Eagles over to his house after he got fired, or because this tape is allegedly leading to people getting killed and the mayor needs to put an end to it. Whatever it is, few think Towhey made a mistake leaving, and his Twitter feed is now a must read. Very funny.

Yawn. Another quiet day off. Too rainy to go to the movies. Can anyone recommend a good video?

Neutral: Doug Ford

The mayor’s brother was supposed to be the “smart one” but had a nasty habit of setting fires for his brother. Now the Globe and Mail has gone after him for allegedly being a key hash dealer in Etobicoke 30 years ago. Ford came out and slammed the Globe immediately, and the allegation hasn’t really stuck or hurt all that bad, from where we sit. And it was 30 years ago (and much whispered about in and around City Hall for at least the 18 months the Globe worked on it).

He has also looked quite goofy in his attacks on the media. He is a key source of advice for the mayor, that likely drove away much of the mayor’s staff, and has now given Rob his executive assistant to run communications for the mayor’s office. Business as usual for Doug.

That said, my Queen’s Park sources – OK, not sources – say this will hurt Doug’s reputation provincially and in an Ontario election. I say hogwash. He’ll own Etobicoke. But I will agree that this hasn’t helped the Conservative brand.

Winner: George Christopoulos

Toronto mayor Rob Ford, right, with his press secretary George Christopoulos play football at the temporary pitch built in the fountain at Nathan Phillips Square in front of the City Hall in Toronto on Nov. 20.

Quitters never prosper? Well, staying would not have helped.

The mayor’s head of communications packed up on the weekend, along with his number two, Isaac Ransom, and disappeared from City Hall without comment. The job Christopoulos had is also thankless, but became extra ridiculous in the past week as Ford continued to ignore advice and fumble his credibility in the media.

Christopoulos left with his dignity and now can stop trying to make excuses for his boss. He’ll land on his feet, no doubt.

Losers: Glenn De Baermaeker and Kathleen Wynne

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

A number of councillors called for Rob Ford to resign, but the one that stood out for me was Glenn De Baermaeker. The Scarborough councillor couldn’t help but get in front of the cameras and demand Ford’s resignation. Give me a break. Had GDB been receiving advice, it would have been to steer clear, talk about doing the business of the city, and let the Ford mess happen as it will. Shut your trap. Even Adam Vaughan knew enough to stay away from this one and deal with city issues.

Kathleen Wynne then spoke up and said she’s worried about what the Ford festivities are doing to the city of Toronto. Don’t go there! Third rail! Who is advising this premier? Just take the easy win of sitting idly by while Team Blue hurts itself.

Winner and Loser: Toronto media

Well, what can you say? The appetite for Rob Ford news is insatiable.

Any digital editor watching their stats will tell you Rob Ford is a record breaker. The Toronto Star, Gawker.com, the Globe and Mail, even sites that didn’t break the major news, like Canada.com, all enjoyed a nice upswing in interest from readers across Canada and around the world. That’s the good news. We haven’t seen any circulation numbers on the newspaper side to see if the story generated dead tree sales.

The bad news is there continues to be a credibility issue. While Doug Holyday has now come out and said he believes there is a video that Robyn Doolittle of the Star has seen, the issue isn’t settled. Raising $200,000 to pay crack dealers has raised an eyebrow or two.

A big splash about Doug Ford’s alleged drug dealing 30 years ago has earned the Globe a fair number of attacks – though John Stackhouse, the paper’s editor-in-chief, tried to mitigate that with his editor’s note about it being in the public interest, there being 18 months worth of work done on the story and the fact-checking to ensure it’s right.

Plus there was this fun little fight over the word “exclusive” that the media loves to care about.

That’s my list, what do you think?

@robedits I don't think anyone won — especially Holyday who looks help/hopeless. The biggest loser in this whole thing was the city itself

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/national/rob-ford-crack-scandal-winners-and-losers/feed2Ford Denial HolydayrgranatsteinDeputy Mayor Doug Holyday speaks to media regarding embattled Mayor Rob Ford on allegations of crack cocaine useMark TowheyRob Ford football game GIFOntario Premier Kathleen Wynne.Rob Ford is performing exactly how Toronto expectedhttp://o.canada.com/news/rob-ford-is-performing-exactly-how-toronto-expected
http://o.canada.com/news/rob-ford-is-performing-exactly-how-toronto-expected#commentsTue, 28 May 2013 16:13:06 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=255286]]>When I sat down with the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Toronto Sun in early October 2010 to decide who the paper would endorse as mayor, the who wasn’t really up for debate.

Still left in the race and in contention were George Smitherman, former provincial MPP, Liberal, cabinet minister — those were just the three easy strikes against him — and Joe Pantalone, David Miller’s deputy mayor, and a true team orange leader. Cartoon candidate Sarah Thomson and departed hopeful Rocco Rossi were campaign roadkill.

Ford had been a Sun favourite for years, standing up in council to attack every dollar spent and every attack on taxpayers. Other than being a loose cannon, unpredictable and not having a feasible plan — plus two unbelievably terrible appearances in front of the Sun’s editorial board, including one time when we had to call a “time out” to cool everyone down, and another that led to a lawsuit against the now-mayor — Ford was the perfect candidate for endorsement.

While a number of moments stand out in that meeting, one really proved prophetic

Taxes bad, Rob good. Simple math.

Newspaper endorsements used to carry a significant amount of weight, but that has definitely shifted in recent years. Still, it’s always noted when a paper endorses someone — or doesn’t, as the Sun chose to do with Tim Hudak, provincially — to great surprise.

The publisher has final say on who the paper endorses, and Mike Power made it clear it would be Ford, with no reservation.

While a number of moments in that meeting stand out in my mind, the one that really proved prophetic every day is Power and James Wallace, the paper’s editor-in-chief, saying Ford as mayor would not only be good for the city, but there would be no shortage of news.

Truer words have never been spoken. Life with Mayor Rob Ford has been anything but boring.

The never-ending news out of the mayor’s office is much more than we could have predicted, but exactly what we expected. There hasn’t been a dull moment since Ford took office. I don’t know how anyone in the City Hall Press Gallery is still married because the demands of covering this mayor are 24-7. You can’t take your eye off him for a minute because he’ll be chasing a reporter out of his backyard from behind his property, or being sued, or – and this one wasn’t expected – being tied to crack cocaine.

His radio show on Sunday is can’t-miss material for reporters because the unexpected is assumed. His schedule is held under wraps so it’s often a scramble to find him.

For the three years I covered City Hall, and the five years I wrote columns about Toronto politics, I had a good relationship with Rob Ford and his team. He was a go-to councillor for the “other side” against David Miller’s ideas, and knew how to generate headlines himself.

Ford, of course, got himself into his fair share of hot water by shooting off his mouth as a councillor. His inability to answer the Sun editorial board’s questions and the nasty exchange between his staff and the Sun staff in those meetings – remember, I said Sun, not Toronto Star – made it clear Ford as mayor wouldn’t be boring.

Since becoming mayor, he has kept a tight hold on taxes and spending, did a fantastic job in union negotiations including avoiding a garbage strike, still has no transit plan, and has owned the headlines, both in Toronto and internationally.

]]>http://o.canada.com/business/whats-hot-right-now-on-canada-com/feed0cancomlaunch_featurergranatsteinPeter Worthington – death of a Canadian classichttp://o.canada.com/news/peter-worthington-death-of-a-canadian-classic
http://o.canada.com/news/peter-worthington-death-of-a-canadian-classic#commentsMon, 13 May 2013 13:24:24 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=247218]]>The least surprising thing about the death of Peter Worthington early Monday morning is he had written his own obituary – scooping everyone yet again.

The most surprising thing to me, after being lucky enough to work with Worthington for 17 years, is it didn’t take an army of assassins to kill him.

Peter Worthington is one of the most unstoppable, amazing men I’d ever been fortunate enough to be around.

The founding editor of the Toronto Sun, a four-time National Newspaper Award winner, a gifted athlete, and an editor’s best friend when you had a hole that needed to be filled with deadline looming.

As his editor for five years, Worthington would always be there with column after column packed with unbelievable first-hand details. He didn’t just write about stories, he had lived them. The most famous of all, of course, inside the Dallas police station on November 24, 1963, when Jack Ruby fired at Lee Harvey Oswald, Worthington was so close he’s in the famous picture. And, as his son-in-law David Frum wrote, he’s running toward the bullets.

Peter Worthington

My career at the Sun started with me covering the induction of Doug Creighton into the Canadian News Hall of Fame. And interviewing Worthington about Creighton on my very first assignment.

When it ended and the Sun showed me the door, I sent this note to Worthington:

You’re a treasure Peter. It’s like having world history living down the hall for you, ready to write at a moment’s notice. I can’t say enough.

He responded:

Your departure leaves a nasty gap. Not used to such accolades. You quietly saved me from silly errors. But nothing lasts forever, I guess — except me!!

ps: and maybe Donato.

I was pretty sure Worthington would last forever. He deserved an Order of Canada. He deserved more respect than he ever received – largely, I think, because he worked for a scrappy tabloid and not one of the traditional big players like the CBC, Globe and Mail or Toronto Star, even though he regularly schooled journalists at those publications and worldwide.

But for Peter Worthington, it was never about the accolades. It was about the story. And kicking your ass on the tennis court.

Peter Worthington was 86.

Anyone interested in journalism should read Peter Worthington's remarkable autobiography, Looking For Trouble. He lived a life and then some

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]]>http://o.canada.com/news/peter-worthington-death-of-a-canadian-classic/feed1tor1231-worthy.crgranatsteinPeter WorthingtonOvertime loss leads to Toronto Maple Leafs’ wife staredownhttp://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/overtime-loss-leads-to-toronto-maple-leafs-wife-staredown
http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/overtime-loss-leads-to-toronto-maple-leafs-wife-staredown#commentsThu, 09 May 2013 02:59:43 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=245402]]>James Reimer’s wife had a lot of TV air time on Wednesday night, sitting next to the goalie’s mom, Marlene, who could barely watch the action.

But, when defenceman Dion Phaneuf made a bad pinch that led to David Krejci’s game-winning goal, the cameras caught a death stare.

The Vine video posted here by Kate Murphy – from the CBC Hockey Night in Canada feed – shows it beautifully. That’s April Reimer turning and looking a row up at what appears to be Elisha Cuthbert. Hairy eyeball. Yikes.

Tsarnaev was taken away from the scene by ambulance around 8:45 p.m. Friday night. Witnesses report seeing the man covered in blood.

Overnight, Tsarnaev’s brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a horrific gun battle that left more than 200 spent shell casings on the pavement. The ethnic Chechen brothers from Russia lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, an uncle said.

In a long night of violence that began Thursday evening, they are said to have shot and killed an MIT policeman, severely wounded another law enforcement officer, and hurled explosives at police during a gun battle and car chase that ended with the younger brother slipping through officers’ fingers in a hail of bullets, authorities said.

With the suspect caught, police pulled out of Watertown to cheers and thanks from local residents, and responded by flashing their lights and waving. An emotional end to a draining four-and-a-half days and an extraordinarily tense 22 hours.

In all, five people died in this violence. Three innocent marathon watchers on Monday, a police officer at MIT and one suspect. More than 200 people were hurt, many losing limbs in the bombing.

People in Boston are now looking for justice and some answers to why this had to happen at all. To them. To their city. To their race. To their community.

Earlier, police went through 20 streets, door-to-door to ensure everyone was safe in their homes. They did limited searches in those homes. They’ve searched in various places across eastern Massachusetts, but no success.

Police found exploded and unexploded bombs. All were detonated safely.

“He abandoned a car. He fled on foot. I don’t know where he went on foot after that,” Col Alben said. They said with all the first aid and what was happening, they didn’t have enough people to establish a full perimeter.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick lifted the stay indoors order and reopened the transit system at 6:08 p.m.

Thomas Menino, the mayor of Boston, thanked the public for their cooperation. “Boston will stand tall. We’ll never stand down.”

MIT police officer Sean Collier is shot and killed in an altercation with the suspects.

– with files from the Associated Press

]]>http://o.canada.com/news/boston-police-manhunt/feed0042013BOSTONrgranatsteinThe moment of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's arrest caught on camera. (RT.com)The boat where the suspect was hiding. Photo: Twitter/GoogleSean CollierNo further bombs found at Boston Marathon scenehttp://o.canada.com/news/live-boston-police-press-conference-about-boston-marathon
http://o.canada.com/news/live-boston-police-press-conference-about-boston-marathon#commentsMon, 15 Apr 2013 20:54:01 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=231906]]>The two bombs that exploded at the Boston Marathon were the only ones found, according to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who spoke at a Tuesday morning update from authorities.

Patrick countered reports that police had discovered and dismantled other devices.

Hospital statistics were also made public during the press conference: In addition to the three dead, 176 people were injured, 17 of whom are in critical condition. All patients have been identified with an age range from 28 to 71.

An official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives explained that rumours of additional bombs spread as police were called to deal with other found objects that raised alarm.

Boston police are looking to view all photographs and video taken around the city on Monday — not just around the marathon scene. Commissioner Ed Davis described the bombing site as the most complex crime scene the department has ever had to deal with.

The FBI will not comment on the make-up of the bombs and asserted that there are no further known threats at this time.

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]]>http://o.canada.com/news/live-boston-police-press-conference-about-boston-marathon/feed0Multiple People Injured After Explosions Near Finish Line at Boston MarathonrgranatsteinJustin Trudeau – it’s all about the hairhttp://o.canada.com/news/politics-and-the-nation/justin-trudeau-is-it-all-about-the-hair
http://o.canada.com/news/politics-and-the-nation/justin-trudeau-is-it-all-about-the-hair#commentsThu, 11 Apr 2013 03:50:36 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=229535]]>While Canada’s top journalists and editors beat themselves up to find the greatest story ideas, the best angles and the searing questions that will differentiate them from the competition, we’ve decided to add something a little different to the conversation.

We proudly present Justin Trudeau, the hair apparent (with much thanks to the talented photo manipulators at Postmedia Digital).

We’re not fawning, we’re not cheering, we’re just looking to lighten it up a little bit in amongst all the serious, life-or-death coverage of the Liberals future. Here’s Justin, the son of a prime minister, a youthful-looking 41 years old, married to a former model, lovely family, now leader of Canada’s federal Liberals. But what if he didn’t have that great hair?

As a baby

Justin Trudeau in May 1973.

The teenage years

Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau shows how tall his eldest son Justin has grown in relation to himself during the seventh inning stretch at the Montreal Expos game in Montreal on April 20, 1987. Photo: Paul Chaisson/The Canadian Press

Last year

And this year, at work

Justin Trudeau, March 2013. Photo by Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons in March 2013.

And here’s what he might look like if he tried some different hair styles. We’ve planted some different styles and some famous celebrity hair on Justin, just to see what he’d look like with a different look. The hairpiece sources can be found at the bottom of this post.

Maria Carreiro says she ran down the street “like a crazy woman” and checked the ticket at her local store again.

“I’m not drunk,” the exuberant winner said. Just happy.

And then she continued dancing. And right through the press conference following her jackpot win, she didn’t stop dancing. It was refreshing to see. Pure joy. Quite frankly, it was better than the commercials the lottery companies run.

Greg McKenzie, VP of Lottery at OLG, presents a cheque for $40 million to Maria Carreiro after she won the April 5, 2013 LOTTO MAX jackpot. (CNW Group/OLG)

The 51-year-old grandmother did her happy dance again and again, as she described how she planned to spend some of the money.

She’s going to buy a house. And two cars. There will be money for her five grandkids. She and her husband, a construction worker, are going to go to Hawaii, for the honeymoon they never had.

She’s also going to buy a new wardrobe, get her nails done (!) and take her family out to dinner.

Then she’s going to invest the rest.

Would you be like Maria, or a little more like this woman, who won $50 million in Lotto Max over the holidays?

But will Maria do well by her money? We know many others have not. Here are some of the colossal failures from lottery winners recently.

Windsor, Ont.: An 83-year-old man sued his wife — plus her two daughters and their spouses — after she cashed in 6/49 numbers worth $3.5 million in 2008, then initiated divorce proceedings.

Cambridge, Ont.: A woman who established a long-distance relationship with a man who owned a convenience store, then later moved from Toronto to help him run the business, was dumped right after he scored a $21 million 6/49 jackpot in 2006 — violating a verbal agreement she claimed they had.

Burnaby, B.C.: Fingerprints factored into a claim a man had his $10 million winning ticket stolen by neighbours in 1992 – the result of losing a wallet and getting it back with one slip of paper removed — even though it took 11 years for an affidavit to be filed in court.

Winnipeg: A home care worker unsuccessfully sued the elderly wheelchair-bound woman she looked after on the grounds that they had a verbal agreement to split any winnings. But the $11.4 million jackpot winner’s son, who was photographed collecting his prize in 2000, admitted he initially lied that he bought the ticket himself in order to spare his mother the media attention.

London, Ont.: The Super 7 winner who curiously waited until nearly the end of the one-year deadline to pick up his $30 million prize in 2004 eventually settled out-of-court after a long legal battle with the woman he dumped after one last hotel room romp. The trial involved a detailed deconstruction of their torrid decade-long relationship — and the couple might have even reconciled.

]]>http://o.canada.com/business/is-this-the-best-lottery-winner-celebration-going/feed2OLG winrgranatsteinOLG, lottery winnerCanada.com: Cleaning up the mess we madehttp://o.canada.com/business/canada-com-cleaning-up-the-mess-we-made
http://o.canada.com/business/canada-com-cleaning-up-the-mess-we-made#commentsWed, 03 Apr 2013 15:45:22 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=224386]]>It’s been nine months since the massive overhaul of Canada.com, and the changes just keep on coming.

Everything we develop on the site is focused on improving the user experience when you come to Canada.com, and that’s why I’m so delighted with the changes that have just gone live.

From the time of our relaunch, we had been experimenting with a different story pathing plan – taking you from the homepage to a discussion page filled with content on that subject, to a story page. It was risky. We’ve finally decided the risk didn’t pay off. Starting now, we’ve gone back to the normal route of homepage to story page. It probably shouldn’t have taken us this long to make that move.

Something brand new for us, and that we’ve only seen in one other place on the Internet, is we’ll now offer you even better content at the bottom of our stories. If the story is part of a broader discussion, you’ll see professionally-curated stories that complement and enrich the experience. If the story isn’t part of a discussion, you’ll see our homepage at the bottom of the story page.

This move is especially important for Canada.com because so many of you find us through search and social media, the vast majority of you don’t even see our homepage. And it is, of course, a spectacular selection of Canada’s great and shareable stories.

When we relaunched, we came out with a responsive site – optimized for your smartphone, your tablet and your desktop – a huge step forward for us. We have now redesigned our navigation, how our site renders on mobile and tablet, moved the ads out of the centre story area and to the right rail, moved comments below stories and out of the right rail, added category pages, cleaned up some of our design, and overhauled our footer at the bottom of the page.

On the social media side, we’ve improved our experience on Twitter, freshened up our Facebook page, boosted our Google+ efforts and are also now available on Google Currents on your mobile devices.

We want you to read us and share what you like with your friends. That’s when we know we’ve earned your time. It’s a big ask in your busy day, but we hope to earn a few minutes of your time every day with the content we’re producing.

Thanks for staying with us as we work to get Canada.com the way we think it will work best for you.

]]>http://o.canada.com/business/canada-com-cleaning-up-the-mess-we-made/feed0cancomlaunch_featurergranatsteinEdmonton Oilers’ Taylor Hall’s record setting hat trickhttp://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/edmonton-oilers-taylor-halls-record-setting-hat-trick
http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/edmonton-oilers-taylor-halls-record-setting-hat-trick#commentsSun, 31 Mar 2013 04:14:50 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=223180]]>Edmonton Oilers‘ young star Taylor Hall barely waited for O Canada to finish up before speeding behind the Vancouver Canucks’ defence, roaring down the right wing and beating Cory Schneider of the Vancouver Canucks with a hot shot to the top shelf.

By 7:53 of the first period, Hall had a hat trick, had broken Wayne Gretzky’s record for fastest hat trick from the start of a game, had helped chase Schneider from the nets and made Luongo look sick twice, too.

Nice start.

The ice crew picks up hats off the ice after Taylor Hall #4 of the Edmonton Oilers scored a hat trick in a game against the Vancouver Canucks.. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

The post-game love-in between Don Cherry and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri is the stuff Leafs’ fans eat up and fodder for the dart board for non-Leafs fans.

Kadri had just turned in another fantastic game – a hat trick, moving him to sixth in goals and sixth in scoring in the NHL – and Cherry went out to fetch him for a live post-game sit-in with Ron MacLean.

Kadri thanked Cherry for sticking with him when things weren’t going so great. After Cherry pulled in Fraser McLaren and Colton Orr – two of his type of hockey players who Kadri credited for giving him more room on the ice – the interview concluded with a very predictable kiss from Cherry.

Don’t go declaring Kadri the best young player in the game, though, based on a few games. Or, if you feel required to do so, take a look at Edmonton, where Oilers‘ young gun Taylor Hall had a hat trick in the 7:53 to start the first period against the Vancouver Canucks.

Nazem Kadri (L) and Tyler Bozak of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate Kadri’s goal against the Ottawa Senators during second period of NHL action at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, March 30, 2013. Jean Levac/OTTAWA CITIZEN

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/don-cherry-kisses-the-toronto-maple-leafs-nazem-kadri/feed3Don_Cherry_Kisses_Nazem_Kadri-600x320rgranatsteinDoug Gilmour, Don CherryMaple Leafs vs SenatorsWhy this is the Toronto Maple Leafs biggest weekhttp://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/why-this-is-the-toronto-maple-leafs-biggest-week
http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/why-this-is-the-toronto-maple-leafs-biggest-week#commentsSat, 23 Mar 2013 17:46:22 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=219705]]>UPDATE: The Toronto Maple Leafs got off to a great start on this make-or-break week by dumping the Boston Bruins for the first time in nine tries, 3-2, on Saturday night. That still doesn’t mean they can afford to lose to the Panthers, Hurricanes or Senators.

—

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, there’s nothing worse than a back-to-back showdown with the dreaded Boston Bruins.

Just a year removed from the Stanley Cup, the Bruins are big, tough, fast, nasty, and have Phil Kessel’s number. Tyler Seguin always finds a way to haunt the team that traded him, and now Dougie Hamilton’s in the lineup to rub chowder in their faces.

But the Bruins’ games just set the table for the biggest week of the Leafs season. Starting Saturday night against Boston on Hockey Night in Canada, the Leafs play five games in eight days, and need to come away with a minimum of six points – but seven would be better – in this shortened NHL season.

Boston Bruins left wing Chris Bourque celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in February. The Bruins have owned the Leafs. The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn

Coming off a dreadful stretch where the Leafs have picked up a measly five points in six games, and the bottom of the conference – teams like the New York Rangers – are starting to creep up closer, the Leafs need points. Now.

Of the five games over eight days, three of them have to be seen as winnable – and must wins. The Leafs destroyed the Florida Panthers in the last meeting between the two teams, and need to do it again. Next up is Carolina, with the Hurricanes missing Cam Ward and Dan Ellis in net, and a battered blueline, too. Then it’s the Ottawa Senators next Saturday night. The Sens have been decimated by injuries, but continue to find a way to win – Paul MacLean for coach of the year, seems an obvious outcome there.

The Leafs have no shortage of questions, either. Getting Joffrey Lupul back for Monday night, after a questionable two-game suspension will help. He’s been lighting it up when he’s been in the lineup. But will James Reimer or Ben Scrivens actually step up and be the Leafs number one goalie? Can Toronto’s defensive game return? The team has given up four goals in each of the last three games.

And can Nazem Kadri continue to make believers out of the non-believers?

Toronto is sixth in the Eastern Conference, with the ninth-place Rangers just three points behind them. Treading water isn’t going to be good enough. Toronto needs to win winnable games. There are three of those in the next week. Getting a point or two from the Bruins would be a bonus – but it’s Florida, Carolina and Ottawa that need to be swept or it’s going to be a crazy April in hockey-mad Toronto.

Starting April 1, Toronto will have 12 games left. Getting to April 1 in good shape is vital or it will be another quiet spring on Bay Street.

Florida Panthers’ Stephen Weiss falls in front of the Toronto Maple Leafs bench last February. Weiss is out and the Panthers are struggling. Can the Leafs take advantage?

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/why-this-is-the-toronto-maple-leafs-biggest-week/feed0Buffalo Sabres v Toronto Maple LeafsrgranatsteinLeafs vs BruinsOttawa Senators' coach Paul MacLean has kept his team winning despite missing many key pieces. Wayne Cuddington, The Ottawa CitizenFlorida Panthers' Stephen Weiss falls in front of the Toronto Maple Leafs bench during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Sunrise, Fla., Monday, Feb. 18, 2013.Canada.com is now on Google Currentshttp://o.canada.com/technology/personal-tech/canada-com-is-now-on-google-currents
http://o.canada.com/technology/personal-tech/canada-com-is-now-on-google-currents#commentsMon, 18 Mar 2013 16:38:53 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=216526]]>There is now a new way to read all the great content we’re producing on Canada.com – and it works on planes and trains – but don’t do engage us will driving your automobile.

Canada.com is now on Google Currents – it’s a great swipable magazine format optimized for your iPad, iPhone, or Android devices. You can browse, read and share your favourite content.

It also works when you’re offline – because we wouldn’t want you to miss a moment.

The New York Times has called Google Currents one of the best 10 apps available on Android. We’re happy to be there.

To join us, download Google Currents to your mobile device, then visit this link on the browser on your device:

]]>http://o.canada.com/technology/personal-tech/canada-com-is-now-on-google-currents/feed0currents_badge_whitergranatsteinVancouver Canucks score goal 6 seconds into gamehttp://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/vancouver-canucks-score-goal-6-seconds-into-game
http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/vancouver-canucks-score-goal-6-seconds-into-game#commentsSun, 17 Mar 2013 04:03:10 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=215874]]>The Vancouver Canucks set a team record and jumped out quickly against the Detroit Red Wings with a goal just six seconds into the game on Saturday night.

Alex Burrows buried a one-timer off the post and past Jimmy Howard. The setup came from Daniel Sedin. Dan Hamhuis also earned an assist on the record-setting goal.

Amazingly, in six seconds, all five Canucks touched the puck on the play.

The Canucks, wearing their new Vancouver Millionaires jerseys, sure looked like a million bucks at the start of the game.

In the latest – and one of our biggest – updates to Canada.com, we’ve changed the main navigation, so if you don’t have one of the great wide-screen monitors, the menu will appear across the top of the site.

As you move to your tablet or mobile phone, the menu bar will still be front and centre at the top, and drop down for easy usage.

A huge thank you to our developers, Vasu Kuppam and Jason Bracken, for making so much happen so quickly.

Some of these changes are a big deal for us to make the site work better. But the most important consideration in prioritizing all of these changes is to make Canada.com easier for you to use, all while we continue to improve our content.

There are more big developments to come in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

And thank you for continuing to look at what we do. We appreciate every minute you spend with us.

Rob

]]>http://o.canada.com/technology/the-canada-com-overhaul-continues/feed01News canada.comrgranatsteinCanada.com navigationCanada.com new navigationToronto Star announces big cutshttp://o.canada.com/business/toronto-star-announces-big-cuts
http://o.canada.com/business/toronto-star-announces-big-cuts#commentsMon, 04 Mar 2013 21:03:56 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=209011]]>The Toronto Star, the country’s largest daily newspaper, announced dramatic cuts and changes to the way it does business Monday afternoon, with plans to cut 21 newsroom jobs and 55 positions in total.

The paper said it would be outsourcing page layout to The Canadian Press’ Pagemasters North America. Canadian Press is now owned by the Star and the Globe.

The move was foreshadowed by some social media chatter over the weekend (“Have long wondered when the reckoning visited on other newspapers would hit the Star. That time is, in some fashion, nigh”), plus the exit of national editor Colin Mackenzie last week and dire revenue issues for the company.

This isn’t the first time the Star has tried to outsource its layout, but this time the paper’s leadership seems more determined to actually get it done – pending further discussion with the newspaper’s union.

And, of course, this is nothing new for newsrooms as falling revenue has decimated newspapers, forcing some to close and most to slash staff and costs, close foreign bureaus and freeze or eliminate travel budgets. Similar cuts have hit Postmedia and Sun Media, with both organizations centralizing page layout and copy editing duties.

In a note to clients Monday, Canaccord Genuity analyst Aravinda Galappatthige said he expects to see a 6% year-over-year decline in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

“We’re looking for a soft top line due to continued weakeness in the ad market and headwinds in Europe impacted Harlequin,” he said.

Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., the company’s romance novel publishing group, faced lower revenues in its third quarter due in part to intense competition from the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

– files from Postmedia News

The Star memo

Office of the Publisher

Date: March 4, 2013

To: All Staff

From: John Cruickshank

Today, the Star is announcing a series of restructuring initiatives to reduce our costs in the face of revenue challenges. These steps are being taken following careful review.

In the newsroom, we intend to outsource print page production and most print design work to Pagemasters North America. We have today advised the CEP of this intent. We will of course provide the union with the details of our business case for contracting out, and seriously consider any alternatives the union may wish to present. We hope to conclude that process quickly so that affected staff have a sense of certainty regarding the future.

We also today provided notice to the CEP that we intend to reduce staffing levels in other specific classifications in the newsroom and in the Advertising Division of the Star. Meetings are being held this afternoon with staff in the affected classifications.

In light of the magnitude of the changes ahead, we are today announcing our intention to open discussions with the CEP on a Voluntary Separation Program at the Star, to provide staff with additional choices and to cushion the impact on our departing staff. We hope to conclude such discussions quickly so that staff have an understanding of the options open to them. Formal layoff notices will be issued to affected staff once those discussions have concluded.

These are difficult steps to take. The loss of valued, close colleagues will be challenging to all, and we will need to tap into our shared commitment to the Star’s mission and purpose as we navigate these challenging times. No large metropolitan news organization in North America has been spared the intense revenue pressures that we face. It is essential that we act in a responsible manner now to secure our long-term future.

On behalf of the executive team I thank all members of the Star’s staff for their continued commitment and dedication in these challenging times.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s clearing out some room on the fourth line as Matt Frattin, and soon Joffrey Lupul, get ready to return to the lineup.

For the Edmonton Oilers it’s a much-needed injection of tenacity and truculence – in the old Brian Burke world of hockey – to go with the speed and finesse of Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, Sam Gagner and the rest of the young, but underperforming Oilers.

The Leafs get a fourth-round draft pick in return.

This is new GM Dave Nonis’ second move, after sending Matthew Lombardi to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Brown improved his fighting technique under the tutelage of Colton Orr as a Leaf, and went a million miles an hour. That also led to a number of injuries that slowed down the hard-nosed winger. Leafs fans with miss his work ethic, and the face full of mustache he often sported. But fourth liners are fourth liners, and Toronto needs more talent chewing up ice time on the top lines, and less ice for the fourth line.

Mike Brown of the Toronto Maple Leafs checks Josh Gorges of the Montreal Canadians during NHL action at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, February 27, 2013. Brown received a five minute penalty and a game misconduct for boarding on the play. Photo: Tyler Anderson/National Post

Brown definitely learned how to fight – and he never gives up. Oiler fans will love that part of his game.

Newest #Oilers forward Mike Brown has 25 points and 519 penalty minutes in 254 career games with Vancouver, Anaheim and Toronto

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs-trade-tenacious-mike-brown-to-the-edmonton-oilers/feed1Mike Brown, Ruslan FedotenkorgranatsteinMike Brown, Leafs, OilersAmazing Race Canada wannabe contestantshttp://o.canada.com/entertainment/television/amazing-race-canada-videos
http://o.canada.com/entertainment/television/amazing-race-canada-videos#commentsSat, 02 Mar 2013 03:15:34 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=208235]]>It’s one of the hottest games in Canada, and now that applications have closed, let’s take a look at a few of the public audition tapes put together by Amazing Race Canada wannabes.